Friendly Fire!

1 Peter 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Yesterday I was having some “girl time” with my favorite author – Priscilla Shirer. She does not know me (yet) but it seems as if she writes directly into my soul. One such book, “Fervent” (I HIGHLY recommend it… read it… NOW!), met up with my spirit yesterday and I “soared with wings as eagles” (Isaiah 40:31)…

This book is (as she states on the cover), “A Woman’s Battle Plan for serious, specific, and strategic PRAYER”, but don’t let gender identity deter you from its real message for our world today. We have an enemy… he hates us – whether we fight him or not… he has declared WAR! A Battle Plan would be good! “Fervent” (I HIGHLY recommend it… read it… NOW!)

Yesterday… as I was flying high… Priscilla says, “If I were your enemy…”

And that began my wrestling match with the Holy Spirit… a little Daddy/daughter Warrior Training time.

We all have seen and been the recipient of the enemy’s fiery arrows. Sickness, tragedy, suffering of every kind, weapons formed to disable and destroy us and/or our faith and hope in God. We see evil all over our world today, laughing at our inability to prevent or even retaliate against its evil intent. It’s easy to spot evil (unless you are lied to by the lipstick on the pig) when there is an outward show of violence. (If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…)

But what of the bombs placed strategically in the hidden places of our lives. The ones that are timed and triggered by… wait for it… our own lack of awareness AND our foolish provision of huge closets in which to hoard all the toys. Toys I would rather play with, than be practicing the fine art of Shield Lifting – in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one (Ephesians 6:16).

“If I were your enemy”… I wouldn’t want you to be aware of the real danger (until it was too late).

“If I were your enemy”… I would hide the danger in sweetness and light (he is known as the angel of light).

“If I were your enemy”… I wouldn’t create a new weapon if I could get access to those you have already created to sabotage yourself.

“If I were your enemy”… I would keep you SO BUSY with the mundane things of your life that you would NEVER SEE your Shield of Faith such less lift it to extinguish/disable my weapons.

“If I were your enemy”… I would celebrate FRIENDLY FIRE!

Friendly Fire… the weapons of mass destruction that, not only do I personally invent, I hoard, and polish, and practice using.

Things like… if only I had__________.

Things like… I need ____________.

Things like… I wish I were ________.

We recognize pain and grief and suffering as opportunities for an enemy to take advantage of our weakness. For those who have been trained in warfare, they will immediately lift their shield of faith, knowing from where their help comes from… neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

But will we lift our shield of faith against ourselves? ESPECIALLY if we are enjoying (dysfunction!) our self being on the center stage.

Ecclesiastes 2:10 All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor.

So what if it has kept me from time with my Father/Son/Holy Spirit. After all… God wants me to be happy – healthy – wise, right?! God wouldn’t want me to be disappointed in His provision, right?!

Ecclesiastes 2:11 Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun. 

So what…

This was my reward… no profit under the sun!

No profit… except to our enemy… we’ve done the dirty work for him. We have made ourselves vulnerable and unprepared for war.

Remember… THIS IS WAR!

Matthew 16:26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Don’t have time for a conversation with God? Don’t have a need for God’s instruction right now? Don’t want to upset those depending on me to, “Shhh, not wake the sleeping giant”?

Will God tell His prophet once again… “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:9-10)

In my Warrior Training session I learned (and began to practice) to lift my shield of faith up against myself, because sometimes, I am my own worst enemy.

The Friendly Fire (this time) is my hatred of DISCIPLINE!

Hebrews 12:11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; I sabotage discipline – I set up bombs to stop all attempts to be trained by it… yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. 

Yesterday… I LIFTED my shield… Proverbs 23:12 Apply your heart to discipline And your ears to words of knowledge. 

I wrestled… and then submitted to God… Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:7-8)

I practiced… Hebrews 12:12-13 strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. 

I benefitted… I am changed because I walked wrestled on Holy Ground with my Father/Son/Holy Spirit… I see with my eyes, hear with my ears, understand with my heart, and I have returned and been healed.”

Will there be no more friendly fire from me?

Unfortunately I suspect my storage bins are still somewhat full of bombs (some may even be ticking as we speak) but I know… from where my help comes from… 1 Peter 5:10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. 

And now my friends… it’s your turn to become a soaring eagle…

Isaiah 40:31 Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. 

I want to encourage you to lift your shield of faith to extinguish the flaming arrows of your Friendly Fire!

Ephesians 1:18-19 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe… this is our SHIELD OF FAITH!

Do a little wrestling with your Father/Son/Holy Spirit… afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. 

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible